With spring snowstorms in the past, Memorial Day Weekend came with almost all state park campsites filled. According to the Rapid City Journal, 270,000 camping units were filled in 2012, and parks director Doug Hofer believed they would hit that level or higher in 2013.

The Black Hills region is home to four state parks and recreation areas. Read more »

South Dakota is aging faster than the nation as a whole, with 14.3 percent of the state's population over age 65 compared to 13 percent nationally, according to a report from iGrow, a service of South Dakota State University Extension. (The full report is attached to this post.)

By 2035, the counties of Campbell, Custer, Fall River, Gregory, Haakon, Jerauld, McPherson, Perkins, Potter and Walworth are expected to have 1 in 10 people over the age of 85. Read more »

Suicide rates rose 48 percent in South Dakota between 1999 and 2010, according to a new report issued by the U.S. Center for Disease Control. Wyoming, with 31.1 suicides per 100,000 population, had the highest rate in the country, up 78.8 percent between 1999 and 2010. Nationally, suicides exceeded deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents in 2009.  Read more »

Five Black Hills geographic features with offensive names will be renamed by the state.  The South Dakota Board on Geographic Names will accept new name suggestions online or by mail.  Read the full article in the Rapid City Journal and Read more »